"Good place to stay for not too much money"

11-05-2018
Tryp is an oasis is calm and quiet in what can be a very hot, loud, frantic and even overwhelming city.
It is located in El Cangrejo district, just 5 minutes walk from Iglesia del Carmen subway station, and little more than that to the skyscrapers of the Financial District. There are many restaurants and cafes nearby (including 3 vegetarian restaurants within a few minutes walk, and a good Colombian arepa place very close by). Given all that, though, the hotel itself is remarkably quiet and serene.
The check-in/front desk staff are pleasant and helpful, if a little inept at times. Our second room was not ready on time, and it took them about an hour to figure it out. Another guy was apoplectic that it took them so long to reverse out a double-counted dinner bill, but hey, this is Latin America, chill a bit.
The room was really nice: large and spacious, comfortable bed, good air conditioning, great (and huge) shower, easy-to-use safe, TV and coffee-maker if you want that kind of thing. The pool on the top floor is too small to actually swim in, but nice to relax in, along with the whirlpool, and the gym is small but adequate (and both are very little used). The views from the top are good, too. We didn't use the restaurant, preferring to get breakfast at little local bakeries, so I can't comment on the food.
All in all, a good place to stay for not too much money.

"Great 1 night stay! Loved the rooftop pool and views!"

08-05-2018
We stayed here just for 1 night in mid-April, before our flight out of PanamÃ¡. We had a standard room # 909 on the 9th floor overlooking the high rises in the area. The check in and out were very quick and pleasant, and the front desk staff were very welcoming and friendly.
Our room was more than expected - mainly due to the amazing views from our huge floor-to-ceiling windows. Both room and the bathroom were very comfortable and clean, as well as very spacious.
The hotel itself was equally modern and well-kept. It has a cafe/ breakfast spot in the lobby - they offer buffet breakfast that we had included in the room rate, and it was quite nice with plenty of options (eggs, potatoes, bacon, fruit, variety of cereals, yoghurts and parfaits, muffins, cakes etc - more than we could try in one go). The highlight for us, however, was their rooftop pool, bar and relaxation area. Itâ€™s open throughout the day, up till 9 pm, so we were actually able to enjoy it both in the evening and early in the morning before having to check out to catch our flight. The pool area is not big, but offers some tables and seating, one pool for swimming and a jacuzzi, as well as those amazing views. The towels are provided.
The location of the hotel is better than expected, too. Itâ€™s far from Casco Viejo, but the El Cangrejo offers enough restaurants that you donâ€™t have to go far to grab a bite. Thereâ€™s good few cafes, bars, Mexican â€œhole in the wallâ€ which we tried, Colombian spot, and many Italian, pizza places. The area was very lively for a Wednesday and it felt safe.
We were using Uber when getting anywhere further in PC, i.e. a drive to hotel from Allbrook Airport cost us $5, drive to the Metropolitan National Park was less then $5 and a ride to the Tocumen Airport was $15 (vs $30 with a yellow cab).
All in all, we were very happy with our choice of hotel - the views, the good location, the rooftop pool all made it for us and the place was very affordable, too! Would highly recommend to others!

"Not as good as we wanted it to be !!!"

02-05-2018
My wife (together with a ladyfriend who brought her 12 years old boy along!) and I spent two nights at this hotel at the beginning of April We were on our way to Colon in order to embark on a 7day cruise in the Carribean Sea so we took a shot at visiting this surprisingly nice city which Panama City is and , obviously , the Canal (its main attraction!)...a little bit disappointed by this rather expensive hotel which offers nothing out of the ordinary in its range of price (by the way , the fifty dollars difference for 2nights for the same kind of room can be hardly explain!!).The main + is the location , very convenient I have to confess!
Otherwise , the magnetic cards are not working almost instantly after check-in, the elevators can NOT be used because of this malfunction so up and down the stairs to replace them is the daily training! The rooftop pool is a joke AND a danger for is smaller then even the pool on the cruise ship (!!!) and is very bad protected for the height at which it is placed (for an adult let's say it's alright but we traveled with a kid, so......).
Breakfast was decent but nothing fancy although I didn"t understand why we had to pay at check-in?!? Obviously - no receipt !
All in all - we expected more than a good location for the price we paid - next time we will search for something else ...

"Great value"

01-05-2018
Great value for this beautiful.hotel in panama. The room was spacious and confortable with tv, ac, wifi and refrigerator. Great choice if you spend your time in panama and want to find a good value hotel

"A rather anonymous but ok hotel"

01-05-2018
The TRYP is in the business district, but I didnâ€™t like the area at night. We went out to diner twice, both places just 200m from the hotel and it just didnâ€™t feel safe. Lots of police, yes, but that doesnâ€™t assure me. So, itâ€™s not an upscale neighbourhood, despite it being in the â€˜businessâ€™ area.
Check-in was quick and efficient, but we did not experience the so-called friendliness of the receptionists. In fact, the young fellow was rather rude. He was wary of our 2 16-year old twins sharing a room. I had to tell him several times that they are siblings (he had their passports after all).
The room was basic, clean, rather nice and the pictures on booking sites are rather correct. Except for the views. Right across the hotel is an abandoned high-rise, stripped, just the concrete structure. The other buildings are mostly the same: dull, grey concrete. The skyscraper skyline a further downtown, so you can get a nice view of that â€“ but only when youâ€™re at the rooftop. Looking out your room is rather depressing.
Bathroom was nice and clean, with a large shower. The ventilation in there made a lot of noise, so most of the time we didnâ€™t put it on. Our make-up mirror and light didnâ€™t work and the hairdryer was missing. We had a safe, but the room our children had, didnâ€™t â€“ which I find odd. Be sure you get a room with safe, because going about in Panama City with all your valuables and passports is not a good idea!
Upon arrival we went straight to the rooftop terrace. The pool is so much smaller than on photos! I expected that, but it was even smaller than I imagined. Itâ€™s not heated, and neither is the jacuzzi â€“ of which half of the bubble outlets didnâ€™t work. Thereâ€™s a timer about 20m away of the jacuzzi, with which you can turn it on for a max of 30mins. a time. Took us a while to figure that out...
We were there in April, and apparently the holiday season ends in March, so we didnâ€™t have too many other guests taking up one of the 10 or so sunbeds. That also meant that we didnâ€™t get any bar service at the pool, although there was a note on the counter that bar service was from 3pm to 9pm. Never had bar service there. I had to go the downstairs bar to order a drink and they charged me $2 for bringing it!! Sure, there was a vending machine, but guess what: it didnâ€™t work.
We had lunch and some snacks in the downstairs bar/restaurant/breakfast area, which was ok. The space it is in is not good defined, so itâ€™s not that cosy to sit in for long.
Breakfast is good, but I find the reviews I read about it being outstanding, exaggerated. It was ok, but as always in Panama lots of carbs! I also wanted some real bread, not that stuff they upholster furniture with. I Liked the fruit and the yoghurt, but this was at the beginning of our road trip through Panama and having exotic fruit is still nice. After two weeks of it I got bored of eating pineapple and watermelon (and bread, pastry, cakes, cakes and cakes). Not that much variation in the Panamanian breakfast. So, I canâ€™t say the breakfast at the TRYP was that great as I had expected according to former reviews.
I wouldnâ€™t stay here again, itâ€™s a very anonymous hotel, no character. You canâ€™t hang around after a hot day in the city, thereâ€™s no appealing place or area to relax and the pool is mostly crowded with children â€“ and it doesnâ€™t have a bar service out of season. It doesnâ€™t have an appealing lobby and the ground floor bar is not very inviting.
So, meh. Not bad, not great. Iâ€™d say grey.